Blog

Our blog is a hub for sharing news, information, research, evidence, analysis and debate. Blog posts are written by and for professionals across the sector. The views expressed are the authors’ own and do not represent those of Research in Practice.

Transitioning is a natural and normal part of growth and development for all of us. However, for children and young people in care, they have the added pressure of accessing services and expectations to be able to adapt to change and prepare for their future more readily than children and young people living with their families.

West Berkshire Council have used a restorative practice approach to transform early intervention emotional health services for children. In this blog, Andrea King discusses their journey to implement the Emotional Health Academy.

A child or young person cannot be deprived of their liberty unless it is justified and lawfully authorised. Caroline Bennett, author of the latest Research in Practice Strategic Briefing, discusses the area of decision-making and mental capacity for children and young people.

Central Bedfordshire Council Children’s Services are leading an ambitious transformation programme. In this blog, the Director of Children’s Services highlights the importance of building a resilient workforce when implementing change in a complex landscape.

Good supervision is highly valued by social workers and is one of the most important ways that managers can support their staff. Yet we know little about the detail of what happens when local authority supervisors and social workers meet to discuss casework and not enough about the impact that different approaches to supervision have on practice and outcomes for children and families.

Shelley Caldwell, Principal Social Worker at North Somerset Council, discusses key messages from the Link Officers’ Annual Meeting and the importance of strengthening social work through research evidence, professional practice wisdom and children, young people and families expertise.

Given that relatively little is known about the impact of sexual abuse involving online and digital technology compared to offline abuse, the NSPCC recently commissioned researchers from the universities of Bath and Birmingham to explore and compare how online and offline sexual abuse impacts upon young people and how professionals respond to it. The report reveals some issues that need to be addressed in order to fully understand and represent the experiences of children and young people in the development of services.

Improving our prevention of and response to child sexual exploitation (CSE) requires not just hard work and tenacity, but a willingness to engage with evidence. It is easy to be evidence-based when you agree with the messages, but when research challenges established practice, it takes real grit to reflect critically on what we do.

Assessment of disorganised attachment in young children is often used to screen for child abuse.
However, disorganised attachment isn’t necessarily an indicator of abuse. Evidence shows that exposure to multiple socio-economic risks is almost as likely to result in disorganised attachment, and therefore the classification alone shouldn’t be used to guide child protection decisions.